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Efficiency BS

If there is one thing that really bothers me, it’s idle political pandering. Check out this bullshit, courtesy of certifiable Tory moron, Eric Pickles — reported in IT Pro:

“Today I’m implementing the best austerity ideas from CLG staff: from cutting catering, to only using second-class stamps, to more double-sided printing. These show there are thriftier and smarter ways to use taxpayers’ money in the future,” Pickles said.

Other IT cuts will include a reduction in the number of BlackBerry smartphones issued and a limit of one printer or photocopier to each floor of the CLG offices.

[bold RatGeek]

The bold is mine, because that’s the nonsense that I really have a problem with.

If a public servant’s role requires him or her to have an exchange phone, then he or she should have one.

If you’ve ever had a work phone with email, you’ll know that it’s hardly a ‘perk’. It’s a nuisance. You will answer emails out of hours, and you’ll think about work when you should be relaxing and taking time out. BlackBerrys are hardly a constructive weapon in the work-life balance war. No, they’re a tool for the enterprise to absorbe your every waking thought.

That said, if the employee doesn’t need a BlackBerry, take it off them — simple as that. I’m all for reducing IT costs, but blanket reductions don’t make any sense whatsoever.

Also, the “one printer or photocopier to each floor”, is just crap. How many minutes will be wasted with civil servants traipsing across offices to their designated printer? And what if said printer dies? Do they have to tackle the stairs, or worse (at least in the efficiency stakes) the lift? I presume they’ve conducted extensive efficiency-based time-and-motion studies?